KnowQuest

  • Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)


  • “Why?”

  • - Why not!?


  • “What is Academic Feedback?”

  • - Academic Feedback is the Report Card for Higher Education.

    Academic Feedback is the combined voices of students and professors. It is their input on their educational experiences, and the fastest way to foster change for the better. Academic Feedback is a detailed, meaningful, and credible look at how textbooks, resources, schools, classes and their online learning experiences are measuring up to expectations and standards.


  • “Who can rate?”

  • - Students, professors, and instructors in Community College, College, and University


  • “Why should I rate?”

  • - Why should your voice be heard? Why should you have a say in your education? Why should your input today help the students of tomorrow? Why should publishers hear your feedback on their textbooks? Why should schools know how online learning is working for you? Why should professors read ratings before selecting textbooks and resources? …

    The question should be, Why Not?
    - Not convinced that your voice is important? Alright, we will incentivize you with contests and a partnership program! Regardless of why you are giving your feedback, it will work to make education better, so we thank you!


  • “Why do you need my school email address?”

  • - Your school email address is how we check for credibility. The platform is designed for students, professors and instructors only. Once we verify that you have a valid school email, you can rate!


  • “What kind of feedback do you collect?”

  • - We collect feedback on textbooks, digital resources, schools, classes and online learning.

    - Students and professors can rate textbooks and digital resources.

    - Only students can rate their classes, school and online learning experience


  • “How is this different from the feedback I give at the end of each course?”

  • -The feedback you give at the end of each course is for your school’s internal purposes only.

    -The feedback you give at the end of each course is not always anonymous!

    -The feedback you give at the end of each course is not shared and does not contribute to an accessible database of aggregated feedback…in essence, it is LOST after one semester.

    -Your feedback on KnowQuest.net is anonymous, secure, contributes to a database of feedback, textbooks and resources.

    -Your feedback on KnowQuest.net is designed to help all students and professors, publishers and content creators.

    -Your feedback on KnowQuest.net is your loudest academic voice!


  • “Why are there only 25 subjects?”

  • -Some Universities have more than 500 courses…and the same subject and level (such as first year undergraduate level accounting) will have different names and codes from school to school.

    -To keep things simple, we made a small adjustment to the subject list developed by the library of congress (by combining business and economics into one).

    -The feedback you give at the end of each course is not shared and does not contribute to an accessible database of aggregated feedback…in essence, it is LOST after one semester.

    -The library of congress’ list of subjects is the shortest list that is also comprehensive.


  • “Please explain your platform, why is it called C.A.S.H.?”

  • - KnowQuest.net is built around a new platform we call C.A.S.H.

  • - C stands for credibility, which is established prior to ratings via school email.

  • - A stands for anonymity, which means no user id no names no associations with ratings.

  • - S stands for security, because we do not collect your name, addresses and other personal information (other than school email), that information cannot be hacked or sold. We don’t want, collect or sell your personal information, ever!

  • - H stands for homogeneity, or comparability. Ratings questions are layered, making all textbooks, schools, classes, resources and online learning experiences comparable based on a set group of factors. Unlike Amazon and Google, in which a single rating question is asked (overall), we ask questions that relate to context, and give meaning to the data.

  • - The C.A.S.H. platform is one of the most progressive rating platforms in the world.


  • “Can your platform be used in other, non-education industries?”

  • - YES, we are currently working to create a White Label version of the ratings platform.

  • - We are already investigating its potential deployment in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry (Rate my Hotel, Rate my Restaurant, Rate my Trip) in which there are many ratings platforms, but very few if any have our combination of credibility, anonymity, security, and homogeneity.


    “Why don’t you want my name or other personal information?”

  • - We took a long look at ratings platforms in general, and asked raters including students and professors what they Want. The results were clear: raters did not want their personal information collected or sold. Raters did not want to be identifiable. Raters wanted their ratings to have meaning. Raters wanted a site that is secure. Based on this feedback, we built the KnowQuest.net site and C.A.S.H. platform to meet and exceed those needs.

  • - We don’t want, store or sell your personal information, ever!


  • “How are you different from Google Reviews, Goodreads, or Amazon?”

  • -On Amazon, Goodreads and Google reviews, the ratings are not credible. Is the rater a student, a professor, or neither? On KnowQuest, only students, professors and instructors can rate!

  • -On Amazon, Goodreads and Google reviews, the raters can be traced because they have usernames, or in some cases, use their real name! Additionally, ratings are either presented as a summary of all ratings into one score, or individually, making it tedious, time consuming and difficult to establish real meaning. On the KnowQuest platform, there are no usernames, user ids, names, or identifiable information associated with any ratings, and ratings are presented in aggregate, and are searchable and sortable based on a variety of factors. The ratings on KnowQuest are meaningful and have more information!

  • -Amazon, Goodreads and Google may be selling your personal information! If either of those platforms is hacked (and everyone gets hacked eventually!), your personal information will be compromised! On KnowQuest, apart from your school email, we don’t collect, store or sell personal information! This is an example of security by design that we are very proud of!

  • -Ratings on Amazon, Goodreads and Google lack depth, as they typically only ask for an ‘overall score’. For example, if you read a textbook that is too expensive, very well written, has awful visual aids, and is at the perfect reading level for your course…how do you translate all that information into a single score from 1 to 5? On KnowQuest, you rate in detail, even if it only takes 45 seconds. The ratings you give on KnowQuest have depth and meaning, and communicate your impressions better than the alternative.

  • “Who uses the feedback data?”

  • - Students who want to find the best textbooks, resources and classes.

  • - Professors who want to spend less time finding the best textbooks and resources.

  • - Professors who want to better understand how appropriate or effective a textbook or resource is for their class.

  • - Students, Professors and Schools who want to get a better understanding of how their school, classes and online learning are performing.

  • - Schools that actively want to improve their performance overall.

  • - Schools that want to improve their value proposition to students.

  • - Schools that want their professors to select only the best textbooks and resources.

  • - Publishers and Content Creators that want to improve their textbooks and online content.

  • - Publishers and Content Creators that want to reduce their market research costs.

  • - Publishers and Content Creators that want to listen to what students and professors have to say.

  • - Publishers and Content Creators that want to reduce their marketing costs.

  • - Authors that want to improve their content and textbooks.

  • - Authors that want to better understand their audience.

  • - Researchers in higher education.

  • - Ministries of Education who want better insight into higher education, each school, and student and professor feedback.

  • - Education Advocacy Groups.


  • “What do they do with the feedback data?”

  • - Students and Professors can search through ratings free of charge! They can find the best resources and textbooks quickly and easily.

  • - Schools will receive periodic reports that summarize how their school is doing free of charge. They will be given more detailed reports if requested (i.e. if they want to see which textbooks or resources are the worst performing, which online learning course needs improvement, etc.

  • - Publishers and Content Creators pay for access a dashboard that gives them the ability to get the most information from the data. They can also pay for access to their competitors’ ratings, something that they have typically never had access too, on a large scale.

  • - Authors can see how their textbooks and online content are doing and get insight into improving them!

  • - Researchers can use the data to answer meaningful research questions at a graduate and doctoral level. For example, is there a correlation between textbook ratings and class ratings?

  • - Ministries and Education Advocacy groups can receive aggregated summary reports each semester, giving them a snapshot into the performance of various schools, textbooks and resources!


  • “How do you make money?”

  • - Publishers and Content creators pay for access to aggregated data. The data has more value as it accumulates, and can give them more insight into their, and their competitors’ products than they have ever had access to.

  • - Publishers can save Billions by reducing face-to-face marketing costs with our platform. Professors don’t really like being bothered by their sales agents, and there are over 1.7 million professors in Canada and the United States alone…meaning most of their input is left unheard! Our platform offers Publishers more ratings per dollar, more detailed ratings, homogeneous ratings and their competitors’ ratings!


  • “What is the cost to students, professors, schools or education ministries?”

  • - Nothing! Rate and Search Free!


  • “What is the Partnership Program?”

  • - The KnowQuest partnership program is a simple way for us to say Thank You to our users.

  • - The Partnership Program is available to students and professors who have rated in the current semester (also known as “Active Raters” or “Active Users”).

  • - Active Users have access to our Partners’ discounts and coupons via our Partners Page!

  • - We do not charge users or partners! This is an added-value feature that we are proud to offer you.


  • “What if I move schools?”

  • - You can sign up again with your new school email! This often applies to professors and graduate students.


  • “How do I delete my account, and what happens to my feedback?”

  • - You can delete your account from your profile page, or email us at Info@KnowQuest.netand we will delete it for you!

  • - Your ratings remain, but your email and profile will be deleted.


  • “How does the referral system work?”

  • -The referral system is a simple and effective way to let your fellow students and professors know about our growing community of academic feedback champions!

  • - We do not email students and professors ourselves, so referrals are our only way to get the attention of more potential raters.

  • - You can refer a student or professor by social media, an email, or your own custom URL link, just click on “Refer a Student or Professor” after you log in.

  • - Each referral that signs up and rates (also known as a “Conversion”) gives you an extra entry into all our periodic contests! The more conversions you get, the more entries, the better your chances of winning!